Quick Review Catchup - Halloween Kills, No Time to Die, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Malignant

 

Halloween Kills ('21, Dir: David Gordon Green) - After the hugely enjoyable first entry in this series, Halloween Kills is a massive step down. An absolute mess of ideas and sloppy, ham-fisted execution that tries to be clever in its allegorical approach but instead ends up as obnoxious and obtuse. Yes, the kills are as brutal as they've ever been in a Hallowen movie, and for pure visceral gore and terror I could see the argument that this movie is a success. But on a storytelling level, the movie absolutely fails to live up to the promise of its predecessor... and other Halloween films. Worst of all? It all but wastes Jamie Lee Curtis. I kind of hated this. 

No Time to Die - Daniel Craig's run as James Bond has finally come to an end, and his final film, directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga is a mostly enjoyable and satisfyingly emotional sendoff. This is the most clear and obvious final film a James Bond actor has ever had, and Craig should be immensely proud of his run. I'd go so far as to argue that his 5 films make for the strongest overall run a Bond has had and he has cemented himself as the best or second best ever, depending on who you ask. This movie almost exists in two parts, at least qualitatively. The first half is a slick, propulsive work, with terrific action sequences, lovely cinematography, and great appearances from Jeffrey Wright and Ana de Armas. The entire sequence in Cuba is one of the most fun action scenes in recent memory. Once the overarching narrative of the film takes over and Rami Malek's villain Safin takes precedence, the movie becomes entirely less successful. Both the performance and the writing of Safin are weak - Rami Malek is terrible and the character is an absolute whiff. Still, with Craig leading the way and Lashana Lynch kicking ass by his side, the movie is solid on the whole - if not as great as Casino Royale and Skyfall. Plus, Zimmer's score is awesome. 

Venom: Let There Be Carnage - Can I be honest? I hate writing negatively about films. I always hope I enjoyed everything I see. Even the first Venom, which is a silly, sloppy movie was fun thanks to Tom Hardy's go-for-broke performance had a certain charm that was undeniable. This film, though? The one word that comes to mind is trash. Sure, trash can absolutely be enjoyable. But I absolutely did not enjoy this at all. Silly is an understatement. This movie is downright dumb, with a nonsensical narrative, a 90 minute runtime that felt like 3 and a half hours, visuals so muddled and ugly that I couldn't tell what was happening in the climax whatsoever, and a hilariously embarrassing villain turn by Woody Harrelson. As for some of the interpretations of the film's subtext that I've heard? I don't buy it. At all. 

Malignant - My God, James Wan. Thank you for this. Malignant is not the movie I was expecting but it's the movie I needed. This is a sly horror comedy, so clear in its tone and intentions, so wild in its execution that I pretty much fell in love. The score, the set pieces, the twists, the performances, the visuals - it all blends together for a ridiculously enjoyable, intentionally campy horror romp. The less said about what's actually going on here the better, but James Wan is a mad genius - and Annabelle Wallis is a new horror icon in my mind. I can't wait to own this on 4K and watch it again.